The County Business Patterns (CBP) data are extracted from the Business Register (BR), a database of all known single and multi-establishment employment companies maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau. The BR contains the most complete, current, and consistent data for business establishments. The annual Company Organization Survey provides individual establishment data for multi-establishment companies. Data for single-establishment companies are obtained from various Census Bureau programs, such as the Economic Censuses, the Annual Survey of Manufactures, and Current Business Surveys, as well as from administrative record sources.

Data are not included for self-employed persons, employees of private households, railroad employees, agricultural production workers, and for most government employees.

Additional information is available at County Business Patterns.